“HERO WITH A HOT ROD”
Starring: Seth Rogen, Jay Chou, Cameron Diaz, Christoph Waltz, and Edward James Olmos
Directed by: Michael Gondry
MPAA Rating: PG 13 for sequences of violent action, language, sensuality and drug content
Running Time: 1hr 48min
Genre: Action/Adventure, Crime/Gangster and Adaptation
Release Date: January 14th, 2011
Distributed by: Sony Pictures Releasing
By John Delia
Sticking pretty close to the original television series, The Green Hornet makes a big bang on the screen. The fun of this film is the story and although it spins out fairly slow in the first thirty minutes, it’s well worth the wait for the excitement to begin. Choreography, cinematography and special effects break trail for an explosive adventure. What it’s lacking in originality, it makes up for in creativeness.
The story centers on Britt Reid, the son of a millionaire newspaper owner who finds himself at a loss when his father gets murdered. A spoiled playboy, he decides to turn the company over to the stockholders and live off the dividends. After realizing he has fired Kato his father’s latte making employee, he quickly rehires him. But, it’s Kato’s resourcefulness that grabs Britt’s attention. The two come across some thugs robbing a couple and Britt jumps in to save them. After a near death experience the two retreats to Britt’s mansion and plan a new avocation, Heroes.
Rogan and Chou are great as the masked novices that make a lot of blunders on their way to trying to capture the bad guys. Rogan plays the clueless Britt Reid with aplomb using his clueless comedy that has been his mainstay. I was totally happy with Chou’s performance as Kato. He reminded me somewhat of Bruce Lee when he played Kato on Television.  There is a cool reference to Bruce Lee in the movie, let me know if you catch it.
The direction by Michael Gondry (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind) does a good job with the wacky script. Although he does take a lot of time getting into the meat of the exciting part of the film, he sure makes up for it in non-stop action to the very end. I like the way he handles his players, especially Christoph Waltz (Inglourious Basterds) who plays Benjamin Chudnofsky a mean looking antagonist.
The Green Hornet has some excellent gadgets, way better than James Bond could ever think of using. The two barreled pistol that Chudnofsky uses in
the film levels anyone in his sites. But the best creation by Kato is the famous Black Beauty, a car with amazing fire power and more gadgets than the Bat Mobile.
The film is rated PG 13 for sequences of violent action, language, sensuality and drug content so anyone below the recommended age should steer clear.
Final Analysis:Â A fiery actioner that could use some editing. (3.5 of 5)